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Impact of Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Buildings

By Alfonso Caso - AOSENUMA
Managing Partner

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By Alfonso Caso | Managing Partner - Tue, 03/21/2023 - 11:00

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In 2011, the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States was reformed to introduce a series of provisions related to the recognition, enjoyment, and protection of human rights. The Constitution recognizes human rights, as something inherent to human dignity, it introduces the pro homine principle to make human rights a reality to the fullest extent possible; it also includes the principle of conventionality, which obliges all jurisdictional and administrative authorities, at all levels of government, to interpret laws in accordance with international human rights treaties and principles. To comply with these regulations, government agencies were subject to the incorporation of consultation mechanisms into their planning and management systems.

In September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were approved. This document arises from an agreement among the 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN) on how to achieve a more sustainable planet in economic, social, and environmental terms.

The implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the New Urban Agenda are relevant to build democratic and sustainable cities aligned with justice, solidarity, and respectful human rights without discrimination.

  1. Background

The Mexico City Charter for the Right to the City is an initiative that emerged and was negotiated since 2007 with the Government of the Federal District (Mexico City) by various popular urban movement organizations. 

Right of the City and the results and proposals of the First World Assembly of Settlements (Vancouver Canada May 1976)  With the material collected and the contributions from members of the Promotion Committee, the integration of the Mexico City Bill of Rights began,  where governments were beginning to recognize the need for sustainable human settlements and the consequences of rapid urbanization, especially in the developing world. Among the agreements of this Charter in 2000 Mexico City authorities established the rights of equality and non-discrimination.

The World Social Forum in Puerto Alegre Brazil in 2001, pointed out that by 2050 the world’s urbanization rate will reach 65% with major consequences for environmental, economic, cultural and the political way human beings will organize in Cities and their territories. 

In March 2010, during the V World Urban Forum convened by Habitat-United Nations and the Ministry of Cities of Brazil, the Mexico City Chart Project for the Right to the City was presented, to comment on its process of collective construction, as well as its foundation and conceptual contents, gender equality, inclusive citizenship and greater political participation in the definition, execution, monitoring and formulation of urban policies budgets and territorial planning to strengthen transparency, effectiveness, and inclusion of the diversity of its inhabitants and their organizations, with Mexico City the first to promote these concepts in our country. 

In accordance with this principle and to meet the objectives of the agenda, Mexico City enacted in 2017 the Land Rights Law that supports the Law of Neighborhood Consultation Committee for Large Developments that promote sustainability, which was agreed to in the 2030 agenda. One example of this commitment was the Postindustrial Atlampa – New Gateway to the Urban Center of Mexico City project that won in a bid called by the IDB.

Another example was the acceleration of the urban development of Coatzacoalcos that began in the late sixties due to the installation of petrochemical complexes, which favored the proliferation of irregular settlements, despite the urban development plans implemented. The crises of the eighties and first half of the nineties stopped this process, and it is at the beginning of the twenty-first century when Coatzacoalcos, like many Mexican cities, experienced an important housing and commercial development, accompanied with a process of economic diversification to reduce the dependence on oil. Housing development is now led by private companies, but was made possible by the reactivation of debt that favored by public housing institutes; simultaneously, public investment literally finances the "scenario" for the arrival of large commercial chains, thus constituting two processes that modify the image and urban structure of that city and aligned the development plan of the city with the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the city.

In the Americas, countries like Canada, have carried out this type of consultation in projects such as relocation of highways, renovation and construction of buildings, shopping centers and receipt deposits. Montreal, for example, has the figure of "Consultative Mandates" with the organization of public meetings and workshops for the integration of information. In Latin America, the rehabilitation of the North Port in the Argentine city of Rosario, where the project incorporated a mega real estate development that involved a neighborhood consultation process. Also, as part of the urban renewal of Bogotá (2013). a consultation process was carried out in three stages: informative, opinion gathering and agreements with the authorities to establish social benefits for the neighborhood. 

Mexico City has recently launched a public consultation for social, economic, and political actors to present their opinions and proposals for the General Land Management Program 2035, which will guide the future of the city in the medium term.

  1. Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Buildings (NCPLB)

In December 2019 the Official Gazette of Mexico City published the Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Buildings (NCPLB) based on the right of access to public information and to establish a mechanism for citizen participation and consultation to guarantee the full exercise of their human rights.

“1) The Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Constructions is understood as the orderly and systematic process to present a Project and obtain the opinion of the inhabitants and users of the area of influence, on the generated impacts and the way to address them; it will be supervised and endorsed by the Ministry of the Environment of the Mexico City, through the General Directorate of Impact Assessment and Environmental Regulation.

2) Large Constructions are those that fall into one or more of the following cases:

a) They include an Area of Action and/or Fusion of Properties equal or larger than ten thousand square meters of surface.

b) Consider Properties equal or larger than ten thousand square meters of surface.

c) Comprise one hundred thousand or more square meters of total construction; and

d) Shopping centers, entertainment infrastructure or similar.”

To give certainty to the people of Mexico City that no project will be authorized until their opinion is known, Mexico City’s Ministry of the Environment (Sedema) through the General Directorate of Impact Assessment and Environmental Regulation (DGEIRA), emphasizes that the NCPLB is not a voting system to elect between several options,  but an orderly and systematic procedure in which it is sought to know the opinion of the inhabitants and users of the project’s area of influence, about the impacts being generated and how to address them. It is important to consider the participation of individual and/or collective citizens through the organs of citizen representation and instruments of citizen participation under the terms of the law, such as neighborhood organizations and committees.

The procedure states also:

  • “The Neighborhood Consultation Process for Large Constructions is carried out at the expense of the person interested in carrying out the Project; for which, you must hire a specialist in the matter, who must carry out the process under the supervision of the Ministry of the Environment.”

  • “The Ministry of the Environment issues the corresponding Resolution, considering the results of the Process of Neighborhood Consultation for Large Constructions.”

  • “They may be exempted from carrying out a Neighborhood Consultation, Projects related to the health, education and promotion of social housing, when justified, so determined by the Ministry of the Environment.”

This new order makes it necessary to expand the scope of what traditionally included the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Mexico City, as it is necessary to specify the areas of influence of the projects and the positive and negative impacts that the project causes, especially during their construction stage. 

It is worth mentioning that the final decision is made by this Secretariat based on the results of the neighborhood consultation procedure in accordance with the Environmental Law of Land Protection. 

  1. Implementation of the NCPLB

The process starts with the definition of the area of influence of the project (Nucleus, Direct and Indirect) and the identification of relevant stakeholders in order to integrate the basic information for the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) study and to design a communication strategy for the Neighborhood Consultation Process. The idea is to prepare a plan to avoid conflicts and to generate a relationship with the relevant stakeholders to be able to define mutual benefit agreements. In this sense, it is important to link the scope of the project with a depth analysis of the impacts that its execution may generate. In the construction stage, for example, it is important to forecast the impacts of the foundation works, waste and materials management, water needs, noise and dust, as well as congestion on roads so that the information presented is clearly explained.

Early coordination with the different local authorities and neighborhood committees have been a strategic premise, given the different permits that are under their jurisdiction. Likewise, it is relevant to consider pressure groups related to informal economic activities, as they play an important role outside the established participation mechanisms.

In order to facilitate the coordination among the different government entities involved in the projects the CDMX, in March 2022 the Single Impact Commission (CIU, in spanish) was created “….to comply with the administrative facilities that allow obtaining the approval of the registered projects, said commission will manage the delivery of necessary requirements with the different dependencies or entities responsible for each process listed in the section of Integrated procedure for Procedures to guarantee the start of works efficiently.” This committee has started to work on a regular basis this year. 

The NCPLB provides the elements to define what is known as social benefits and refers to the commitments between the project’s owners with neighborhood groups and organizations. It allows to compensate and mitigate the impacts of the project and to establish a relationship based on respect for common interests.

The process needs to be open, plural, and transparent to obtain the Social License to Operate (SLO).

In the last three years more than 35 urban mega developments have been consulted in Mexico City, proving the importance of building consensus and incorporating the opinions of residents who are affected and benefited by the construction of these projects. Major changes were agreed on environmental issues, water supply and mobility to foster a new approach between urban developers, residents, and authorities. In many ways, it is an example to other cities in Mexico, the United States and Latin America. 

  1. Final considerations

Mexico City’s government has subscribed to the Global Charter- Agenda for Human rights to guarantee the effective exercise of the human rights of all its inhabitants. The NCPLB is a legal procedure aligned with The Global Platform for the Right to the City (GPR2C) and works as an international network committee that promotes the fulfillment of the Right to the City, to give a voice to the people and communities affected by exclusion and marginalization, and to convert it into actions, policies, projects and legislation. 

We must consider that Mexico was one of the most active members in the consultation forums established to define the 2030 Agenda and present specific proposals to incorporate the principles of equality, social and economic inclusion. In that sense, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) reflect the commitment of government institutions and provide a framework of what has been archived by Mexico City regulations and should serve to reflect a new approach to doing  business  in the city. 

Photo by:   Alfonso Caso

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